


Take Care

by thesometimeswarrior



Series: Hold the Fort: Pictures of Hogwarts During the Year of the Carrows [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Gen, Mentor Minerva McGonagall, Mentor/Protégé, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-25 01:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4940674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Your staying here to wait to be murdered by the Carrows would be meaningless, not heroic. I daresay that there will be opportunities—sooner than either of us would like—to make a meaningful stand.  Your father, noble as he was—and is—did not always understand that difference. But Mr. Longbottom,” Miverva adds. “He—and your mother—would be very proud of you.  More so for being the extraordinary person you are rather trying to imitate them.”</p><p>Before escaping Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom seeks out the advice of one Professor Minerva McGonagall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Care

Because she doesn’t sleep deeply or well, hasn’t since Albus died and especially since the Death Eaters infiltrated his school, Minerva is easily roused when the student comes to wake her. 

“Longbottom?” She asks, slightly surprised, reaching for her spectacles. She knows, of course, that he is a role model and leader in the House, that he takes it upon himself to look after the younger students not only in Gryffindor but in all of Hogwarts. How many times has he found some excuse to talk to her alone, or to Filius, or to Pomona, in order to explain that some first-year boy or fourth-year girl was in need of help after a detention with Amycus Carrow? Nevertheless, Seamus Finnegan, and not Neville Longbottom, is the male seventh-year Prefect (appointed by Snape, after Ron Weasley did not return to school that year), and protocol dictates that a Prefect wake her in the case of an emergency. And though she is fairly certain they consult with Mr. Longbottom first, this year they have always followed that protocol. To do any otherwise is too risky under the Carrows.

“Is everyone alright?” Minerva continues.

“We’re all fine, Professor,” replies Neville. “But I’ve got to leave. And I wanted you to know.”

“You need to _leave_ , Mr. Longbottom?”

He holds up a piece of parchment as if it were an explanation, and after a moment, elaborates. “It’s from my grandmother. They went after her, Professor. Because of what I’ve been doing here.” 

“Oh, Merlin. Did they…?” She cannot bring herself to finish the question. The image of Augusta Longbottom’s unseeing corpse, or else that of her body writing under the Cruciatas Curse, enters her mind before Minerva can stop it. As if this family hasn’t already suffered enough. They certainly aren’t the only family to have been torn apart lately, but this seems particularly unfair. It breaks her heart—surprising her, because after the past year, she didn’t think her heart could break any more.

“No,” Neville says, snapping Minerva out of her thoughts. “No, she got away. Seems a bit battered but otherwise okay. The Death Eaters underestimated ‘er. Fatal mistake, really.” He cracks a small smile, and for an instant, so does she. Yes, Augusta Longbottom certainly would not have been an easy target. She made that abundantly clear during her own Hogwarts days, when she and Minerva had shared a dormitory. 

“The way I reckon, though,” continues Neville, serious again. “This means that they don’t have anything on me to keep me behaving. And I know they were hesitant about it before, but I think they might be willing to sacrifice a little bit of pure blood to shut me up at this point. What do you think, Professor?”

Minerva gazes at Neville for a long moment. He is almost unrecognizable as the boy running after his toad on his first night of Hogwarts. In fact, the only thing she could see that linked this Neville and that one is their shared sense of remarkable courage. Then, it was his small, quiet courage, unrecognizable to the untrained eye: the courage to go to Potions though he was terrified of Snape, to keep going in the face of ridicule and embarrassment, to even use magic after he’d witnessed what it had done to his family. Now, perhaps, his courage is more obvious: rebellion, protecting others even at great personal risk. But the courage wasn’t newly acquired for war—it was always there. Nevertheless, his courage shouldn’t need to be this obvious. He shouldn’t _have_ to run away, to gamble with his life by staying at Hogwarts. _Hogwarts_ —where all of their charges were supposed to be safe. She—a _teacher_ , for Merlin’s sake—should be able to protect them. _All_ of them. But this is war.

“Yes,” Minerva says finally. “Yes, Mr. Longbottom, I think you are correct.”

At this, he looks slightly crestfallen. “Yeah, I thought so. I was hoping you’d say no, though.”

She doesn’t know what to say, and after a silent moment, Neville continues. “Thing is, even though I always had a house to go back to in the summer and at Christmas and everything, this place feels more like home to me. I grew here, you know? Maybe not at first, but I did. I got better here. Better than I ever got in Gran’s house anyway. But I guess this isn’t even that Hogwarts anymore.”

“I, unfortunately, must agree with you there.”

“Part of me wants to stay anyway. Die heroically, make it mean something. Like my dad would.” 

“Your staying here to wait to be murdered by the Carrows would be meaningless, not heroic. I daresay that there will be opportunities—sooner than either of us would like—to make a meaningful stand. Your father, noble as he was—and _is_ —did not always understand that difference. But Mr. Longbottom,” Miverva adds. “He—and your mother—would be very proud of you. More so for being the extraordinary person _you_ are rather trying to imitate them.”

“You know, after all these years,” responds Neville. “I think I’m finally starting to believe that.”

This is, at least, a small victory, even if it is made infinitesimally smaller when compared to devastation around them. Minerva feels heartened, if only slightly, for the first time since Albus died and gives Neville a smile.

“You cannot get out of the castle by normal means,” she says after the moment seems to pass. “Not with all of the Carrows’ ‘security’ measures. Do you have a plan, Mr. Longbottom?”

“Room of Requirement, I think. I dunno if it can get me out, but at least I can hide out for a bit until I figure out something better.”

“You need to get there unseen. Can you cast a Disillusionment Charm?”

“I asked Professor Flitwick to review it with me yesterday. But you know I’ve never been brilliant at spells. I’ll try.”

“If the Carrows should find you—”

“Then I’ll run.”

Minerva can only purse her lips and sigh. She thinks for an instant about going with him, casting an Invisibility Spell around him as they go. But faculty members out of bed after hours are not immune to the Carrows’ suspicions, and if she is questioned, she doubts that she will be able to keep Neville concealed. And even she isn’t capable of simultaneously casting an Invisibility Spell and a Disillusionment Charm. They'd find her and they'd take her or worse, and then there would be one fewer person to protect the children of Hogwarts.

Neville continues, “If something happens here, if you need me, some of the others have ways to contact me.”

“Yes, those coins of yours are rather impressive.” At Neville’s shocked expression, Minerva smirks. “Well, who did you think has been keeping the Carrows off of your little group?”

“Just another thing I have to be grateful to you for, then.” He face turns serious. “I’ve got to go, Professor. Thank you. For everything.” 

Neville extends his hand for her to shake. Instead, Minerva pulls him into an embrace. “Take care, Mr. Longbottom.”

Neville nods, as he leaves her arms and heads toward the door. “Please take care of _them_ , Professor.”

“I will try.” 

After Neville opens the door and quietly sneaks out of her room, Minerva sits back down on her bed. To herself, she repeats, “I will certainly try.”

She thinks about how this child has grown, and she is proud of him for it. But the circumstances that forced the growth are more horrible than they all pretended through gritted teeth in an effort to placate the Carrows and, in so doing, continue to protect the students. And it wasn't just Neville. All the children had to grow up too fast, and there was no certainty that they'd be allowed to keep growing. She can't see ahead, to the next school year, or even to the next week. She can only try to protect her charges in the midst of this uncertainty.

But despite all of the uncertainty, Minerva McGonagall _is_ sure of two things: She will, if need be, lay down her life for any of these children, a possibility which grows ever more likely, and she, worrying and crying about Neville and Harry and Ginny and Luna Lovegood and all the rest of them, will not sleep tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
